The Sunday Examiner journalist, JESSICA WILLARD, caught up with Lily to find out more about her adventures. 

Jessica Willard: Why did you decide to have a gap year? 

Lily Cornish: For me my life has always been a combination of schooling and dancing and I haven’t had much time for anything else. So the prospect of having a gap year presented me with the chance to have a break from this normal routine before returning to studying again. All the things I’d talked about possibly doing or all the places I’d talked about going would finally become a reality and I could start to tick some things off my bucket list. So when the opportunity of joining Burn The Floor came along I could not resist taking a year off to purse this opportunity, as dancing around the world with such a prestigious company seemed like the perfect plan.

JW: Have you always wanted to travel? 

LC: I’m very fortune to have already done some travel through my competitive dance career. I think having that experience has made me realise that for me, travelling as a tourist compared to living or volunteering in a place and being able immerse myself in their cultures and environments are two very different things. With my current job at the moment with Burn The Floor, I’m in a new country every few days, travelling across both the US and Europe, which has been so incredible to get a taste of so many different cultures and places. But it has also strengthened my desire to not just be a tourist in these places, but hopefully in the future be able to live in different parts of the world. Seeing so many different cultures and parts of the world has also deepened my appreciation for my home of Tasmania as for me it will always be the most beautiful place I’ve been.

JW: Tell me a bit how the Burn The Floor opportunity came to you? 

LC: Burn the Floor is an internationally recognised company and receives auditions from ballroom dancers all over the world. In my current cast of 14 dancers there are Italians, Polish, a South African, an American, a Brit and Australians – just to put into perspective how multicultural the company is. The opportunity of joining Burn The Floor began in December last year when I was competing at the Australian Dancesport Championship in Melbourne. I was so lucky that the directors of Burn The Floor, Peta Roby and Nic Notely were present at the championship promoting the most current tour around Australia and Japan and were able to see me dance. My step-dad and coach Andrew Palmer, having previously been in the company 15 years ago, began chatting with Nic and Peta. From there the prospect of me joining the company developed and then within a few months I was part of the Burn The Floor family and on my way to New York to begin my first contract. 

JW: What has been the hardest/ most challenging thing about being away from home? 

LC: There is a very long list of petty things like the struggle of doing all my own laundry, craving Mum’s banana bread or missing that fresh Tasmanian air. But the main downside of being away is not being part of the memories my friends and family are creating at home. It’s not like I can just fly home for my little brothers birthday or for my cousins baby shower. I miss out on all these important moments but at the same time I guess I’m also making my own memories. 

JW: What’s next for you, after your gap year? 

LC: The conservation of the environment and animal welfare are both very important topics to me so I plan next year to move to Melbourne to study a bachelor of Advanced Sciences in global challenges and hopefully purse a career working in these areas.